Sunday, August 30, 2015

Hi there, people! As August winds up, it's time to wrap up what sorts of updates we have in mind for our 5th Year milestone, both subtly applied to the blog and/or incoming tweaks currently planned for the next few months.

As you may have noticed, we started the Sympho-Neighbours feature at a non-weekly basis; the Taiko no Tatsujin franchise is just beginning to reach out multiple rhythm game franchises, so we found this addition to be a valuable corner for our readers to the surrounding rhythm game series which are still active and strong in Japan. Our next one should come the next Sunday!

Today we also had a small update about our Song Series, involving us finally putting in the Murasaki/V Version tracks that can be grouped under certain series. The song additions and minor updates have occurred in the following song series:

Finally, we have also disbanded the hiyama song series, with an updated Tsukikage SASURAI feature now included in the Song of the Week blog post which originally included Uchuu SAMURAI. We'll bring back the song series if a third track by hiyama gets released on Taiko games in the future.

In our next blog housekeeping month (which is the next December, as previously announced), we'll be putting the last touches by updating the Taiko Guinness Hall and Vocaloid corners; if major updates of any other nature will occur before December, you'll be quickly warned by us with another site-related blog entry.

Unfortunately, we didn't manage to add in time the small quirks we had planned for August, but rest assured we're geared towards implementing the following additions in the next few months:

A special icon for Kantan modes on arcade games which are compatible with Papa Mama Support, the kid-friendly, 2-drum feature active from Taiko 10 onward;

A new page for our Console section about the console Taiko games' Demo Versions, often available as either stand-alone discs or downloadable trials for selected Playstation 2, Nintendo 3DS and PS Vita titles.

Last but not least, there's still one day left for your anniversary questions! We'll be publishing our answers next Sunday, a few hours after the currently-scheduled Sympho-Neighbours.

Once again, thank you for sticking with us and bearing with our slow summer website update workload- the month of August has always been a source of work for us, between real life and blog editing action...

Saturday, August 29, 2015

As being anticipated earlier this year, a brand new Lupin the Third animated series is making its worldwide debut tomorrow, for the first time in a country that is not its creator's homelands! Let's welcome the Italian-first series debut with a proper Lupin III track.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

In twists you might not have guessed, this is one of the very rare times the Asian version Murasaki ver. being very on time with non-Namco Original songs. In addition to Taberuna 2000 unlocking by normal DonChare schedules, the four Touhou Project × NAMCO SOUNDS songs are also open on September 1.

Plus Abyss of hell (and hence Norudon 2000 too?) still to be opened next Monday (August 31), there are a lot of new songs this early September that you would want to plan your arcade visits ahead.

Namco/Taiko no Tatsujin and Team Shanghai Alice/Touhou Project have been getting along really nicely for some years, that we will get collaborations of them big and small, here and there. Check out this upcoming bigger ones starting September 1 7:00 until October 18 25:59(that's October 19 01:59).

Atsumete★Tomodachi Daisakusen! (lit. Gather Buddy Attack!) is the third Taiko videogame for the Wii U home console, and the second console game to be released in occasion of the 15th Anniversary of the Taiko no Tatsujin franchise; as such, the Game + Tatacon bundle of this title also includes a set of promotional goods related to the anniversary celebrations.

This installment inherits the signature multiplayer modes from the previous Wii U games (Baton Pass from Wii U Version and Intro Don! from Tokumori), with the addition of the new 'Buddy Attack' single player mode, in which Taiko sibling Kat-Chan tries to become a popular star by befriending wild animals from the streets with music. Content unlocking through the Mekadon Gacha and DLC supports make their return, as well as the coming of Nintendo-exclusive features to the game like Miiverse support and, for the first time ever, compatibility with Nintendo's Amiibo figurines.

Unlike the last Wii games (and the previous Wii U title), Atsumete★Tomodachi Daisakusen's tagline shouts about the game having a lot of never-heard-before songs on Taiko; while this fact is certainly true for nearly all the genres, the ones which have benefit the most are the licensed ones. Since their inception in console gaming, this is also the first Taiko title without any Idolm@ster songs and custom dancers for the Vocaloid genre's tracklist.

Heading back to the Playstation Blog (this time with the North American version), it has been announced last Monday that Sega's 5th instalment of the Yakuza franchise is coming stateside as a digital-only release. The PS3 game will offer the theme above as a bonus for digital pre-orders, and it comes with all the fun and odd side-activities of the game's arcade rooms. Which means...

Yup, it's actual Taiko gameplay... in English! The Taiko minigame we already reported three years ago will be featured in the game's localized version, making it the first legit Taiko... something in NA with actual Taiko gameplay since 2004's Taiko Drum Master game for PS2.

Not only that, this will be the first legit Taiko gameplay experience for European users, as the previously-announced localization of the game (which is slated for this year) has been updated with a recent PS blog entry, indicating that all the Japanese DLC content and extra activities (Taiko minigame included) will be included in the base game.

Don and Katsu's V Version plush adventures on Twitter have returned today in order to remind everyone that the launch free song campaign is about to end! August is a few days from completion after all.

A later tweet from the V Version account also declares that the revelation of September's DLC packs is slated for tomorrow. Expect greatness!

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Let's be quick and frank on this Wii U3 website update: There is no new songs revealed this time, and the side modes (Baton Pass/Intro-don/Mekadon Gasha) are just completely inherited from Wii U2. Instead we are left with one new thing to actually talk about: the titular Buddy Attack Mode (ともだち大作戦)

At least we will get to see way more of the eternal second fiddle (or rather, Taiko) that is Kat-chan, who will finally be the main brother to star a mode. Wait til you see the driving motive though: To become the top popularity star of the (singular) street.

"That's the best we're gonna get, when we failed the Tanabata DonChare Group Challenge da-don..."

Sunday, August 23, 2015

The follow-up to the month of June's double portion of Taiko livestream awesomeness is a broadcast featuring a Test portion before the actual beginning, alongside with the reveal of new and exciting Taiko no Tatsujin content for the next few months. Let's begin!

Yup, it's happening! Thanks to the kind community of fan website/database Puzzle & Dragons X, we know in advance that the Taiko no Tatsujin collaboration dungeon for mobile RPG sensation Puzzle & Dragons will be available for the North American server players, starting from tomorrow!

Said dungeon will last for two weeks (until September 6th) and will feature a variety of enemies from the first Taiko no Tatsujin game for Nintendo 3DS, Chibi Dragon to Fushigi no Orb. Among the noticeable changes for the first English localization of the dungeon, there's a weird name change for Mekadon, which the in-game database seems to refer to as Mechadon (link).

There's no word on the dungeon heading to the European servers yet, but great part of the collaboration events heading the States usually makes it to the EU servers, even if being delayed by a few months. Stay tuned for any updates of sorts!

Then again if you need help I always have that shiny Horus for everyone to en-OKAY OKAY I'M LEAVING
UPDATE: Reports from European P&D players confirm that the Taiko no Tatsujin collaboration dungeon is also available in Europe, under the same time frame. Have fun!

Announced first in yesterday's livestream, and then picked up quickly by video game press like Famitsu, the third Wii U Taiko no Tatsujin game, subtitled Atsumete Tomodachi Daisakusen! (あつめて★ともだち大作戦！; lit. Gather Buddy Attack!) is coming on November 26 later in the year. The subdomain http://wiiu3.taiko-ch.net/ that we told you about being reserved, is now given a one-screen teaser soon after the livestream, and states that actual content will come at the grand site opening on August 24.

The good thing about being picked up by Famitsu is that a preliminary boxart image is also shown. And as with many official boxart images, you can check out the box-side listing of songs by squinting real hard. Instead of that, here are our findings so you don't have to: (Red is series debut; blue is console debut)

Other info from the boxart include the potential support for Nintendo's amiibo figures. What new and what existing designs will be supported? Could any of the new Taiko no Tatsujin amiibo be shared to other games like Smash Bros?

September unlocks: new Namco Original Break Line (ブレイクライン) for Don Challenge and Kaguya-hime (かぐや姫) outfit.

Touhou x NAMCO SOUNDS event to last from September 1st to October 16th, featuring the four Touhou arrangements from Namco musicians and limited Touhou Petit Chara/Titles unlocks.

Reminders to the collaboration events between Chain Chronicle and Taiko V Version.

Namco Original Norudon 2000 unlockable from September onward, by either clearing the Oni modes of the V Version campaign's songs or winning it with the ticket-based poll during the remainder of the collaboration event.

DRIVE A LIVE from the Idolm@ster Side M spin-off to join Murasaki Version's songlist in the future, together with Shine!! from the Im@s Cinderella Girls Anime series.

Synchronica

Taiko no Tatsujin Collaboration event starting from September 10th.

Namco Original songs Angel Dream and Uchuu SAMURAI to be added on Synchronica at the collaboration event's beginning.

Custom Taiko-themed markers unlocked by Full Combo-ing both songs at any difficulty.

Summer event for Synchronica alone taking place on August and September, featuring the unlock of 3 brand new songs.

As the (plot-wise) secret last boss song for V Version, slews of half-speed 220 BPM then 250+ BPM section, and an almost unpronounceable name to boot without some butchering, ≠MM is no doubt one of the toughest nut to crack in recent Taiko history alongside Donkama 2000, Xa, Dokadoka and Yuugen no Ran (oh god and all of them converge at V Version soon).

Here, about one month as of its release, let's check out some of the scattered clues and rising speculation of the elusive tune.

Thursday, August 20, 2015

We forgot to mention that the Taiko x Chain Chronicle collaboration has brought its last content bits on Taiko Plus this past Tuesday, with the addition of the Chain Chronicle Final Battle Medley to the Gakkyoku Tori Houdai subscription-based mode, together with the previously-released Normal Battle Medley.

It's also clear now how to claim the promo code for the Don-Chan Hammer weapon in the mobile Chain Chronicle game; players have to find and tap all the Pirika sprites hidden between the Taiko Plus app's menus in order to get it!

Apparently, the Arcade Operator Unit was so impatient about the next Tenkaichi Otogesai event that it didn't wait to the end of this month for new infos, as previously promised in an earlier tweet!

Four days ago, the AOU's Twitter account spread with a new tweet a .pdf comparison table of the content between the previous TO tourney and the next one, while also mentioning how many new songs will be spawn from the incoming event. As a matter of fact, each of the participating arcades of the tournament will receive 2 new songs for each of the franchises involved, with one song being released in October and the other one coming up in the next month.

This month both champions goes to Hong Kong Donders! Frequent high-ranker Garnet returns with a 3-good performance, beating down second place and fellow Hong Kong Donder Carry by some 12 hits on Oni Hana Furumai's only drumroll bar at the beginning. In Muzukashii, Segihara pulled off a Donderful Combo for Kibou e no Melody, with 400+ drumroll hits no less, and dominates the competition. The also excellent Deta-kobe (Detarame + Abekobe) performance by South Korea's Kagamine is also a force not to be looked down upon.

The next tournament cycle starts with a September 2 announcement of the song choices (Does Shimedore 2000 for Oni dept. tickle your fancy?), the actual run across September 5~13, and results reveal on September 16. In the meantime, do check out the weekly new song additions of Cross Blue and Jotei ~Imbiratuula~, as well as those two troubled fellows in the coming weeks!

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

The picture above comes from the sixth episode of the second season of the Anime series To LOVE-Ru: Darkness, in which the male protagonist Rito and a couple of girls are spending part of a day in the arcade, playing a fictional song (hinting to the show's title) on a mock-up Taiko no Tatsujin arcade machine.

Now that the link to the livestream this Friday is out and ready, it's time to fuel the hype train (with Timeshift, duh)! Everybody Comments Challenge? Silmmed down (10K, 30K, 50K, 76.5K only), but back as ever! September DonChare leaks? Why, yes (probably)! ≠MM? Maybe...?

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Classic songs in rhythm games isn't a new trope at all, as it helped the foundation of newborne series by supplying precious material from the many, many musical composing giants of the past, for a genre of playable songs who found very early its identity and place in music games together with popular licenses and series-exclusive, original tracks.

I still stand on my point when I say that the Classic genre is my favorite one on Taiko games for the exceptionally-huge music library the genre has built up (and still counting!), but other music franchises from both old and current times have supplied their own spin on the topic with many custom arrangements, medleys or other musical renditions. Here are 5 of these gems today for all of you to enjoy!

Before Taiko no Tatsujin starts its collab with Chain Chronicle on August 18, apparently they have to finish the matters with the last mobile RPG first.

Puzzle & Dragons come for another (and final?) round of collaboration with Taiko no Tatsujin Plus on Apple devices in this final week (August 10-16) before the ChainChron collab, once again opening Walking Through the Towers for free for a limited time, and reviving various draw prizes. The long-incomplete PazuDora Pack also completes with the 5th tune and one of PazuDora's newer boss fight BGM Fight the Fanatics (current pack owners may need to redownload to see).

The Taiko Team is resting for a week, but that doesn't stop Takemoto to drop by some tweets before and during said hiatus! Above we have one of those, announcing the return of the Summer Vacation Limited Title Parts Gacha for Murasaki users, so that those who didn't get all the title parts in the past Kimidori days have another chance to complete the set.

Yesterday, Takemoto also listed a short tutorial for crafting a Don-Chan chewing gum dispenser. Just get a generic gum jar, print on paper Don-Chan's face and a light-blue rectangle, cut the forms, glue them to the jar, and... Presto, it's chewing time, da-don~!

From Nintendo of Korea, a sub-website for the second Taiko 3DS game's Koreran localization has been issued in a really simplistic form, only consisting of the 'How To Play' section and the Song List, complete with both default and unlockable tracks.

Aside from the fact that the songs' names have been localized in either English or Korean, we can already spot two worrying factors: there are some tunes missing from the Japanese version (more specifically, Geragerapo no Uta for Anime and the couple Senbonzakura/Matryoshka for Vocaloid) and there's no mention of the game's DLC content. The game's boxart featured in the website still has the Korean icon for the Nintendo Network services, so our best guess is that something will still manage to barge in as extra content.

UPDATE: Errata corrige from our side about the Korean version's features. Upon further research, we have found out that the bottom-left icon that appears in the Korean boxart of the game isn't the region exclusive icon indicating Nintendo Network functionalities, unlike previously noted here and a few weeks back. This means that the Korean version of Don to Katsu no Jikuu Daibouken won't have any downloadable contents of sorts.

Unlike the Japanese version which has its own website to announce news straight from Taiko Team, the Chinese version... just doesn't. But we have Hong Kong area PlayStation Blog to thank for doing regular "What's on PSN This Week" spotlight (and with an English version too), which will talk about new DLC when they come out, and that of course includes V Version.

For instance, from their August 4 post we have these coming out on August 6. Look on the bright side, at least we can be sure that Game Music and Namco Original (and Classical?) are getting in, and there is more freedom to choose individual songs.

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Starting with the tournament, where Oni Hana Furumai (9★) and Muzukashii Kibou e no Melody (6★) are on the table for Asian Donders to challenge. Both are on V Version, so you can familiarize yourself with the charts on there first. Tournament runs August 8~16 and the results will be available on August 19.

In Asia keeping up with Japan news, although the Donder Hiroba-fueled title parts and outfits of the V Version Release Campaignare regrettably missed, we will be getting the weekly additions of V Version debuts on point, for 4 consecutive Mondays: